TPM: US Attorneys being replaced without Senate approval

[deminks]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011956.php

You've probably already seen some of the news about the Bush White House engaging in a seemingly unprecedented spree of firings of US Attorneys across the coutry. Conveniently, they're being replaced without senate approval under a provision of the Patriot Act. We're digging into now and we're finding a bunch. More soon.

Previous stories:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002340.php

White House Pushes Out Another Prosecutor
By Justin Rood - January 15, 2007, 12:14 PM

Strange days? Less than a week after news broke that the Bush administration has forced the resignation of San Diego U.S. attorney Carole Lam, we learn that it has done the same to Daniel Bogden, U.S. attorney for Nevada.

According to today's Las Vegas Review-Journal, no one seems to know why he's been asked to leave before his term expires in 2008. As in Lam's ouster, there appear to be no charges of wrongdoing against Bogden.

An anonymous source inside Bogden's office told the Review-Journal that his management style had led to "low morale." However, the source said that was likely "partly Bogden's fault and partly the result of inadequate staffing and funding from the Justice Department."

The paper did not include a quote on the topic from Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who also represents Nevada. However, it noted that a spokesperson for Reid said the lawmaker was in favor of legislation to prevent U.S. attorneys from being replaced without Senate approval.


http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002335.php

Questions, Concerns Swirl around Politics of Prosecutor's Forced Exit
By Justin Rood - January 13, 2007, 8:38 AM

The head of the FBI's San Diego office and several former federal prosecutors are publicly questioning the politics behind the Bush administration's effort to force Carole Lam to resign as U.S. Attorney for San Diego.

Lam focused her office's efforts on public corruption, including the sprawling Duke Cunningham scandal. That investigation has touched several Republican lawmakers, leading some to speculate that Lam brought political heat down on herself with that probe, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The top FBI official for San Diego said that Lam's dismissal would jeopardize several ongoing investigations. "I guarantee politics is involved," special agent in charge Dan Dzwilewski told the paper. He did not speculate further.

“It will be a huge loss from my perspective,” Dzwilewski said.

[leftyladyfrommo]

1. Whoa - I was just going to post on this topic. What the dickens is

going on now?

[mod mom]

2. UF-BELIEVABLE!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. If Congress would care to read the fine print before voting for acts like the Pat act

obviously they hadn't read the documents

[ArbustoBuster]

19. At this point I think the solution is to kill the Patriot Act completely.

Any parts of it that were good can be recreated as individual new laws afterwards.

And while I'm dreaming of the impossible, I would like Santa to bring me a pony. :D

[tbyg52]

23. There *must* be a pony in there somewhere! nt

[Rosa Luxemburg]

27. It's not that difficult once the 1st 100 hours of congress are over

in April, plenty of time to hack away at the Patriot act

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. Don't you know?

Infrastructure for our regime needs shoring up. x(

[Homer12]

5. Bushco is getting

Ready to commit some major constitutional crimes, so they are urging now!

[havocmom]

8. And he probably needed to assure GOP Congressmen they would be safe

from prosecution for their past dalliances.

Think back to McCain and The Keating Five. Ol John got outta that by the skin of his teeth. He sure became a bush/cheney loyalist all the sudden. Look for some of the rebelling GOP members of Congress to fall, grudgingly, back in line with the neocon agenda.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. a continuing attack on America.

martial law is not far behind, folks. I kid you not.

[IWantAChange]

7. Americans had better wake up before Repug BizzaroWorld is the norm.

If only the 'average' American was as interested in losing his rights and liberties as he/she is in American Idol all would not be in jeopardy.

[Peace Patriot]

13. The American people are like a battered spouse. And you don't help a

battered spouse by telling her what a lowlife she is, how unintelligent she is, how much she deserves to be battered, and beating up on her some more.

You help a battered spouse by finding ways to re-empower her--and, in the case of the American people, the way to re-enfranchise them.

This US Attorney thing is extremely scary. And you turn around and blame it on the 'average' American? Wrong target. And who is this 'average' American? The 'average' American wants us out of Iraq now, and hates Bush. (Look at the polls!!!) What's wrong with "them" is not that they need a little entertainment after a hard day of looking for a minimum wage job. What's wrong with "them" is the same thing that's wrong with you and me. We don't know what the fuck to do about it. Everywhere we look, there is something even worse being done by this Junta. Give people a break. They're not used to being a "banana republic." Help them figure it out. Find ways to re-empower them, and--above all--to re-enfranchise them. And don't begrudge them some silly show.

We're all oil users, you know--except for the few who have opted out, with bicycles, and serious trash recycling (all those plastic, oil-based goods), and other "green" measures in their lives or communities. So, if you are padding Bush's and Cheney's Cayman Island accounts, by driving a fossil fuel-powered vehicle, or buying anything plastic whatsoever, don't throw stones. We're all trapped in this corporate system. We've all lost control of our lives and our country to unaccountable multinationals. And we have to slowly, painfully, get our power back. Dissing other trapped people doesn't help. You want them to be entertained by something better? Do it--provide it--find a way. You want them to fight for their rights? Provide them with some way to participate--and start by understanding their situation and having some compassion. Have some faith in that 70% to 80% of the population who want their country back, but some of whom may have forgotten how to do that, or never knew in the first place because they've never known oppression (or didn't recognize it) and we've never had a fascist dictatorship before.

I do understand your impatience, I think. I've been an activist for many years. But impatience is useless. And expressing it adds yet more demoralization. It doesn't inspire. What is your plan? How do you help people gain a sense of their own power? What is the mechanism of power that they need? Be practical. Think long term. And don't succumb to CORPORATE NEWS MONOPOLY stereotypes about other Americans (their ONLY propaganda success, besides the "Iron Curtain" over election fraud)--and get down on them and, ultimately, on yourself. Help create the great democracy that you and most other Americans want to be citizens of.

[Change has come]

15. Fabulous post!

:kick:

[DemReadingDU]

9. K&R

this is outrageous

[libnnc]

10. Wow. Just...wow.

What else are they going to pull in these next 2 years?

[MiniMe]

11. Feinstein just brought it up on the Senate floor.

So they are aware of it, and disaprove of it. I hope that means that they will do something about it. The prosecuter in San Diego was mentioned by name.

[halobeam]

12. CYA that's all this is.

besides more abuse of power.

[RedEarth]

14. Update from TPM: At Least Seven US Attorneys have Been Fired....replaced with political hacks

So what other US Attorneys have been fired by the Bush White House so far? Here's the list of seven we've found so far.

As far as we can tell, a running massacre like this is unprecedented.

-- Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011960.php

and.........also from TPM.....


January 16, 2007 -- 12:21 PM EST // link)
Okay, so we already know that the White House has now taken the unprecedented step of firing at least four and likely seven US Attorneys in the middle of their terms of office -- at least some of whom are in the midst of corruption investigations of Bush administration officials and key Republican lawmakers. We also know that they're taking advantage of a handy provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows the White House to replace these fired USAs with appointees who don't need to be approved by the senate.

Given that these new USAs are being plopped into offices currently investigating Republicans and other administration officials and others into states with 2008 presidential candidates, there's certainly ample opportunity for mischief.

So we're looking into just how the White House is appointing.

Well, let's start with the estimable J. Timothy Griffin, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas since December 20th.

If you hadn't heard about Griffin's appointment, don't feel bad, the guy he replaced hadn't either. Griffin's appointment was annouced on December 15th before the then-US Attorney Bud Cummins had even been given a chance to resign. Cummins got the call on his cell phone the same day while he was out hiking with his son. Cummins, who subsequently said he got forced out for political reasons, resigned on the 20th, the same day Griffin was sworn in.

So who's Griffin and what experience does he bring to the job?

Well, top of the list seems to be his stint at the White House where he worked for Karl Rove doing opposition research on Democrats. That was until late last year. According to this Arkansas Times report, for the last ten years -- with the exception of two one year stint -- he has always worked as a Republican party opposition researcher digging up dirt on Democrats. Deputy Research Director for the RNC from 1999-2000. Research Director for the RNC from 2002-2005. Oppo Research Director for Karl Rove 2005-2006. Prior to 1999? Well, he was associate independent counsel investigating Henry Cisneros from 1995-96. After that he went to work for Dan Burton on the Hill to investigate Asian money contributions to the DNC.

more...........
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011958.php

[deminks]

17. Sorry, I didn't mean to duplicate your post.

Thank you for posting this update. The whole thing is creepy, isn't it?

[RedEarth]

21. Not an issue with me..... check out the lastest update from TPM

WH Moved Swiftly to Replace US Attorneys
By Paul Kiel - January 16, 2007, 3:22 PM
The administration is replacing U.S. Attorneys throughout the country. How'd they get that power?

It was an obscure provision in the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act, and it didn't take them very long to use it. The president signed it into law in March of last year -- by June, they were already moving to replace unwanted prosecutors.

Former Arkansas USA Bud Cummins told the Wall Street Journal that "a top Justice official asked for his resignation in June, saying the White House wanted to give another person the opportunity to serve." Cummins was finally forced out in December, replaced with Timothy Griffin, formerly the research director of the Republican National Committee.

Section 502 of the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, which was first drafted in July of 2005 and finally signed in March of 2006, changed the law regarding the appointment of U.S. Attorneys. Whereas before the relevant federal district court would have appointed a replacement within 120 days after the Attorney General picked one, now that pick stood without challenge.

How did this (brief, legalistically worded, but powerful) section get in to the bill? It's not clear. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has consistently referred to the provision as "little noticed." What is clear is that Feinstein and her colleagues did not expect the provision to be used in this way. We'll have more on this as we learn more.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002348.php

[deminks]

22. It seems there was a lot in the Patriot Act that wasn't used

like people thought it would be used. No onw seems to know how it got there. And they wasted no time using it. Makes me wonder if it was there to begin with. Something more to investigate.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

25. This is deplorable

and it keeps getting worse. Everyday this * cretin is in office, democracy is set back 1 year. GRRRRRRRRRRR! and FUCK!

[deminks]

16. Another update: OMG, OMG, the replacements are political hacks

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011958.php

If you hadn't heard about Griffin's appointment, don't feel bad, the guy he replaced hadn't either. Griffin's appointment was annouced on December 15th before the then-US Attorney Bud Cummins had even been given a chance to resign. Cummins got the call on his cell phone the same day while he was out hiking with his son. Cummins, who subsequently said he got forced out for political reasons, resigned on the 20th, the same day Griffin was sworn in.

Well, top of the list seems to be his stint at the White House where he worked for Karl Rove doing opposition research on Democrats. That was until late last year. According to this Arkansas Times report, for the last ten years -- with the exception of two one year stint -- he has always worked as a Republican party opposition researcher digging up dirt on Democrats. Deputy Research Director for the RNC from 1999-2000. Research Director for the RNC from 2002-2005. Oppo Research Director for Karl Rove 2005-2006. Prior to 1999? Well, he was associate independent counsel investigating Henry Cisneros from 1995-96. After that he went to work for Dan Burton on the Hill to investigate Asian money contributions to the DNC.

Back in 2000, when he was in charge of digging up dirt on Al Gore, he apparently had a poster hanging on the wall behind his desk which read: "On my command - unleash hell on Al."

And is Ed Gillespie suiting up to take over the Duke Cunningham investigation in San Diego?

emphasis mine

[chaska]

18. kick

[Supersedeas]

20. Short term political gain ahead of long term justice -- that's leadership?

[deminks]

24. New update: Raw Story has a letter from Dems to Gonzo

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Patriot_Act_appointments_0116.html

Dear Attorney General Gonzales:

Recently, it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice has asked several U.S. Attorneys from around the country to resign their positions by the end of the month, prior to the end of their terms without cause. We also understand the intention is to have your office appoint interim replacements and potentially avoid the Senate confirmation process altogether.

We are very concerned about this allegation, and we believe, if true, such actions would be intemperate and ill-advised. We have asked our staffs to look into changing the law to prevent such actions and are introducing legislation today that will return the law to its previous language providing a district court with the authority to appoint an interim U.S. Attorney for the district in which a vacancy arises. Therefore, we ask that if such requests have been made that you desist from moving forward with these efforts and hold the requests in abeyance.

As you know, U.S. Attorneys around the country serve important functions bringing many of the most important and difficult cases. Our U.S. Attorneys are responsible for taking the lead on public corruption cases and many of the anti-terrorism efforts across the country. U.S. Attorneys also playa vital role in combating traditional crimes like narcotics trafficking, bank robbery, guns, violence, environmental crime, civil rights violations and fraud. U.S. Attorneys are also taking the lead on prosecuting computer hacking, Internet fraud and intellectual property theft; accounting and securities fraud and computer chip theft. Continuity in these positions is of utmost importance, and freedom from any inappropriate influences or the appearance of influence must be avoided at all costs.

Please provide information regarding all instances in which you have exercised the authority to appoint an interim United States Attorney. In addition, please provide us with information on whether any efforts have been made to ask or encourage the former or current U.S. Attorneys to resign their position.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

26. This article deserves its own thread... imho

[Rosa Luxemburg]

28. I think we need a new Attorney General too?

[midnight]

29. Can't they fight this in court?

[Toucano]

30. So the Senate gave away it's oversight with the Patriot Act.

If we're going to hold candidates' feet to the fire for voting for IWR, I suggest we do the same for those who voted for the Patriot Act.

[Toucano]

31. So the Senate gave away it's oversight with the Patriot Act.

If we're going to hold candidates' feet to the fire for voting for IWR, I suggest we do the same for those who voted for the Patriot Act.